Sulaymaniyah Governorate

Sulaymaniyah Governorate (Sorani Kurdish: پارێزگای سلێمانی; Kurmanji Kurdish: Parêzgeha Silêmaniyê;^[3][4] Arabic: محافظة السليمانية) or Sulaymaniyah Province is a governorate in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Its capital and largest city is Sulaymaniyah. Halabja Governorate was formerly the Halabja District of Sulaymaniyah, until it became a separate governorate in 2014.

• Governor: Haval Abubakir
• Deputy Governor: Ahmed Ali Ahmed
• Provincial Council Chairman (PCC): Azad Mohammad Amin

Sulaymaniyah Governorate lies in the southeastern part of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, bordered by Iranian Kurdistan to the east, Kirkuk to the west, Halabja to the southeast, and Erbil to the northwest. It is one of the most culturally and geographically diverse areas of Kurdistan, known for its rolling green mountains, fertile plains, deep valleys, and a climate that shifts dramatically between the lowlands and the high ranges.

The governorate is the largest by area in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, and its landscape can be divided broadly into three zones:

1. The northern and eastern highlands marked by rugged mountain ranges. Stretching from Pishdar and Sharbazher regions in the north to Penjwen and Hawraman in the east and southeast along the Iranian border to outlier ranges such as Piramagrun and Qaradagh mountains in the west and southwest. Part of the great Zagros Mountains, the highlands are known for their steep mountain chains, deep valleys, cool climate and rich biodiversity. Elevations here range from 1200 m to over 3000 meters above sea level, creating dramatic contrasts in both temperature and vegetation.
2. The central hills and valleys zone as two somewhat disjointed enclaves separated by a narrow valley between the Piramagrun and Haibat Sultan mountain chains. The northern zone is the basin of Lake Dukan including the Ranya and Pishdar plains in the north-northeast, to the town of Dukan in the south, and the Little Zab river valley. The southern zone is the heartland of the governorate and the most populated area, stretching from the Azmar-Goizha mountain chain in the north to the Sirwan river basin in the south, and from Darbandikhan Lake in the west to Penjwen's foothills in the east, including most of the fertile Sharazur plain and the cultural center of the governorate itself: Sulaymaniyah. It's a transitional landscape between the mountains and the plains, characterized by elevations from 400 to 1200 m above sea level, moderate climate, fertile soil and human settlement.
3. the western and southern plains, representing part of the wide open plains beyond the mountains, known to Kurds as Garmian, meaning "the warm place". This zone borders Diyala and Kirkuk to the south and west. It includes the districts of Kalar, Kifri, Khanaqin (disputed) and parts of Chamchamal and Darbandikhan, forming a broad, low-lying landscape along the Sirwan river basin. This Garmian region is the frontier separating the Zagros Mountains in the northeast from the Mesopotamian plains in the southwest. Characterized by warm temperature, agricultural flat land, low ridges, river valleys, and distant horizons. The main urban center here is Kalar, situated along the Sirwan river.

• Hazar Merd Cave
• Parviz border crossing
• Kermanshah Province
• Lake Kanaw

• Official website (in Sorani Kurdish)
• Iraq Inter-Agency Information & Analysis Unit Reports, Maps and Assessments of Iraq's Governorates from the UN Inter-Agency Information & Analysis Unit